Rage, Fear

The pain in his body vanished like fireworks. In Momonga's vision, a massive round table gleamed with the luster of obsidian, the guild emblem emblazoned on its surface. Forty-one luxurious chairs stood around it.

This was the room where the Supreme Beings gathered to hold meetings. They had once discussed countless tactics for ambushing enemies and plans for conquering rival guilds within these walls.

Those memories seemed as vivid as if they had happened yesterday...

"Bang!"

Without warning, Momonga suddenly slammed his fist onto the table. At the same time, his undead passive ability, Forced Calm, activated, but for some inexplicable reason, he still couldn't suppress his rage.

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

"Bang!"

A succession of loud crashes echoed through the meeting room. Forced Calm seemed to have become a permanent skill, yet it still couldn't quell Momonga's anger.

Momonga couldn't say what he was angry about. Was it because his past glory had been challenged? Because he'd been ambushed? Or was it fear...

Perhaps it was all three. But if he had to say how much each emotion contributed, then, though Momonga was reluctant to admit it, fear probably accounted for the most.

He had already been worried that level one hundred might be commonplace in this world. So he'd gone to rescue Carne Village both to uphold Touch Me's beliefs and to find out how powerful he was in this world.

But...

"Damn it!"

Momonga slammed his fist onto the table once more. The obsidian table didn't budge. Anger and fear filled his heart. This kind of flawless ambush had originally been the specialty of "Ainz Ooal Gown."

The guild's strategist, Bu Mengniu, had come up with the plans that allowed the guild members to PK players time and again without breaking a sweat. Bu Mengniu had even written a book called Easy PK Techniques for Everyone.

The guild members passed the book around, and by applying what it taught, they became unstoppable at PK. But not everyone followed its advice.

And because they hadn't strictly followed those recommendations, Ainz Ooal Gown had become a notorious guild.

In that book, Bu Mengniu had written, "Sometimes, you should return the loot you've taken from someone you PK. It's essential to avoid making them hold a grudge."

If everyone had done that and avoided taking things too far, perhaps they wouldn't have earned so much resentment.

Bu Mengniu had even protested against the guild members' behavior.

But someone had seen right through the real reason he'd written that line.

"You're just a coward, honestly. Come on, it's only a game. What, do you think they're going to come kill you in real life?"

Bu Mengniu hadn't argued, because the other person was right. He was a coward. He'd once told Momonga that he wasn't cautious so much as cowardly.

After that, he never brought it up again. Ainz Ooal Gown's behavior grew increasingly outrageous, and the guild quickly amassed a considerable fortune.

Momonga sank into his memories. Everything back then had been so wonderful. Even when powerful enemies came calling, his guildmates had stood together to hold them off. But now...

Now...

"Bang!"

No matter how hard he pounded on the obsidian table, he couldn't calm himself.

Momonga knew that Ainz Ooal Gown had played the villain throughout all their PK battles. He'd immersed himself in roleplay, faithfully portraying an evil character. Aside from how he treated his guildmates, both his words and his actions made him an irredeemable thug.

One reason he'd logged in at the very end of the game was that he wanted to stand his final watch. Their past misdeeds and the guild's overwhelming strength had caused an assault by fifteen hundred players to end in failure, making people resent them even more.

So, at this final moment, disgruntled players might come to attack Nazarick. Momonga had stayed behind so that his companions' hard work wouldn't be destroyed at the very end.

"Damn it!"

Momonga slammed his fist against the table again. At last, Forced Calm suppressed his anger, but the fear remained.

"Hmm?"

Momonga suddenly froze. Someone was contacting him. He answered at once, and an anxious voice rang in his mind, so loud it seemed ready to split his skull open.

"Lord Ainz! Is that you, Lord Ainz? Where are you? Are you all right? What happened? Please, say something, Lord Ainz!"

Albedo's voice startled Momonga so badly that Forced Calm triggered again.

"Albedo?" Momonga said.

"Ah! It's me, Lord Ainz. How are you? Are you all right? Where are you now? What happened?" Albedo repeated her earlier questions, but this time she sounded much calmer, though there was a slight sob in her voice.

"I'm fine. I'm in Nazarick. Are you in danger? Where are you?" Momonga wanted to know how Albedo was doing, too.

He had no idea what had happened at the time. He hadn't even seen what the enemy looked like, but he could tell they'd used Time Stop magic, and then he'd been killed.

Perhaps Albedo had some clues about the enemy.

"Ah... I'm so glad, Lord Ainz. I'm so glad you're all right. I think I was teleported to the forest beside Nazarick," Albedo reported between sobs.

"The forest?" Momonga was startled, then began to ponder.

He'd originally thought that after taking him out first, the enemy had gone after Albedo. As a Magic Caster, if he'd failed to prepare any defenses in advance, he would have stood almost no chance against a Warrior.

But now it seemed that wasn't what had happened. The enemy must have separated Albedo from him first, then come to kill him.

Momonga couldn't understand why they'd done that. There were two of them. One could have kept Albedo occupied while the other killed him, and then they could have joined forces to deal with her.

Albedo didn't have a super-rare Resurrection Ring. If she died, the divine-class items she carried would certainly drop. Were they worried...

"Albedo, where are Aura and Mare?" Momonga suddenly thought of the Elf Twins. They'd be in danger if they faced a Warrior player and a Magic Caster.

Mare was Nazarick's strongest Guardian for wide-area extermination battles, but that didn't mean he was good at PVP. Aura, the strongest Guardian for team battles, was likewise at a disadvantage in PVP.

In terms of their classes' strengths, the Elf Twins were countered by the two enemies who had tried to assassinate him.

Had the enemies never been targeting him and Albedo in the first place, but Aura and Mare instead? They both carried divine-class items, too.

Judging by the enemies' actions, they seemed to know that Albedo would be difficult to handle, and that he couldn't drop any equipment as a player. So they'd put them aside first and gone after the Elf Twins, who would be easier targets?

If that was the case, then these two enemies must know Nazarick extremely well. Were they players who had come to this world harboring a grudge against Ainz Ooal Gown?

"Lord Ainz, Aura and Mare are with me. They were teleported here to the forest, just like I was," Albedo said.

"Eh? What?!"

Momonga froze. He'd guessed wrong.

Then he would have to reevaluate his theory about the enemies' identities.